Description

Preface

This build is intended for those who have an interest in gaming, editing recorded footage, and streaming on a site like Twitch. A PC with these things in mind will have some differing needs than a strictly gaming PC.

CPU and Cooler

For streaming and editing, we're running an Intel i7-6700, which will handle all modern games admirably. The important feature that we want from this CPU for streaming and editing is hypertheading. Hyperthreading adds an additional logical core for each physical core, resulting in double the number of allowed CPU threads. This helps to close the gap between 4- and 8-core processors without breaking the bank or unreasonably sacrificing single-threaded processing power. The extra threads will help performance significantly with both streaming and editing. The i7-6700 includes a stock cooler, so 3rd-party cooler isn't necessary. Since we aren't overclocking our CPU, the stock cooler will be sufficient in keeping temperatures acceptable.

Motherboard

Our motherboard is a parametric selection from a sparse set of options. All six of the potential motherboards share similar features and will work perfectly for the build. They feature the B150 chipset and an LGA 1151 socket for compatibility with the i7-6700. They include 4 DIMM slots for up to 64GB of DDR4 RAM, along with 6 SATA 6.0Gb/s ports for multiple storage drives.

Memory

Since editing video can eat up a significant amount of memory quickly, we are using 32GB of memory, with a parametric filter applied to select the best-priced kit of either a 2x16GB or 4x8GB kit of DDR4 RAM. If you are okay with potentially spending more money, you can change the filter to 2x16GB only to leave room for future memory capacity upgrades. However, that will not likely be necessary any time soon.

Storage

We're use parametric filters to incorporate an SSD with at least 960GB of space and a minimum of 4TB 7200RPM mechanical storage. Everyone's storage needs differs, so feel free to change those capacities to your heart's desire. You likely will need significantly more storage space than if this were strictly a gaming PC, though.

GPU

For our GPU, the newly released Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 is one of the best price for performance cards on the market and an absolute powerhouse. The GTX 1070 will provide a consistent 60fps on many demanding games like Battlefield 4 (and hopefully the upcoming Battlefield 1) at Ultra at 1080p, and even 1440p for some games like Shadow of Mordor. For those interested in VR, the GTX 1070 will have no problem playing any and and all applications currently on the market.

We've updated the filter to include a minimum length to avoid "mini" versions of the card, which prioritize fitting into small builds, such as an ITX case. You can choose to use this filter instead, if you want to include the smaller cards for any reason.

Case

The selected case is black, windowless Phanteks Eclipse P400s. This is the "silent" version of the P400, and it includes sound-dampening foam accordingly. You may find this helpful when editing or to help keep a little more noise out of your microphone while streaming. Being windowless will help reduce noise as well, though if you want a windowed case for aesthetics, you'll likely still be fine. The P400S includes 2 USB 3.0 ports on the front panel, along with 2 120mm fans inside.

The P400S also includes a multicolored LED on the front of the case. You have 8 choices of color, or you can turn it off. Additionally, there is an included fan controller for up to two chassis fans.

Note that this case does not have a 5.25" bay, so traditional optical drives are out. You do not need an optical drive to install an OS or most software. Downloading and flash drives will take care of the bulk of those. If you want an optical drive, you can either purchase an external one, or you can add an internal optical drive to your PCPartPicker list, and our compatibility filter will show only cases that can fit it.

A lack of an external bay also means you can't install a hot swap storage bay that has external access. If you want hot swap capabilities, you'll either want to use an external option like this USB 3.0 one or a different case.

There is also a white version and a gray version. There are also windowed options on the site, if you'd prefer that. If you don't want sound-dampening foam, there are non-silent editions on the site as well. Cases tend to be highly personal choices, so make sure you browse our listed cases to see what suits you.

PSU

For our power supply, we're using a parametric selection of a five well-reviewed semi or fully modular units, all of which are 80+ Bronze certified or above and can provide plenty of power for this build. With the PSU shroud in the case, we don't need to worry about the colors of the PSU matching the theme.

You could change the 1070 for a 1060 which is pretty good if you're plan to be playing at 1080p settings, but if your're planning on playing more than 1080p I don't promise a 60fps always at ultra settings, another thing you could change is the RAM memory with only 16gb your good to go, 32gb should be an upgrade later on when you got the money.

Many high end games wont wont at 60fps at 1080p on the 1060 so getting a 1070 would be a good choice if you wanna keep it for the next 2-3 years cause as games become more demanding the 1070 will later become a 1080p gaming gpu.

I tried streaming the other night and quickly found out that one of the problems is USB bandwidth...especially if you are streaming a console through OBS (or other options) on a PC. I have a USB mic, USB capture card, USB webcam, and a mouse hooked to my PC now, and ran out of USB bandwidth while trying to stream from my PS4. I have been trying to find out how many busses are used for the USB's in this build but can't find it.

Hey, I'm interested in this rig for the power and potential to stream and edit but also know this is probably a bit overboard for what I need. I am not intending to play high end games, just minecraft, league, csgo and such. Is there any recommended downgrades to be powerful enough to stream and edit efficiently yet not overkill/wasteful on what's in the rig?

You can probably switch out the GTX 1070 for a GTX 1060. It's still a pretty powerful card, though I'd recommend you get the 6GB version just so you're not sacrificing too much performance. Another thing you could probably do is just got 16GB of RAM to thin out the costs. If anything, I'd keep the CPU the same just for the sake of the hyperthreading.

I would suggest keeping the 1070 because sooner or later you would want to try high end games and it would be a problem if you didnt get 60fps on them and many high end games require a 1070 for 60fps at 1080p..

Yeah, you bring about a good point with the 1070, Zahir! Kehrenok, if you're planning on tackling high-end games down the road, definitely follow Zahir's suggestion. The 1060 will definitely struggle with newer titles.

I am really looking to make this build as I want to build my first build seeing as it is built for what I want to do with it (gaming, streaming, and video editing). This may be a dumb question, seeing as how it says editing in the title, but would this build be ok as far as audio producing/editing goes? I am wanting to produce music and mixes (produce/DJ in spare time). Thanks!

I'm still new to this myself, but I'm sure with the combination of the i7 and 32GB of RAM will allow for pretty good audio workstation performance. I can't see FL Studio or Ableton going terribly nuts on those parts. Same goes for DJ programs like Itch or Scratch.

(Warning PC newbie questions incoming); First of all, will it be able to run a 144hz monitor + 2 small (17", 5ms, 4:3) monitors all at the same time? On terms of 1-10 where would it place for graphical performance/frames per second? THanks for taking the time to answer :D

Yes it will run on a 144hz monitor and two small monitors depending on if you're using hdmi, dvi, DisplayPort. The current one on the list has 1 dvi, 3 DisplayPort, and 1 hdmi. Make sure your monitors support these inputs and you have the needed cables. I have an extremely similar build with an Asus ROG OC GTX 1070 and an i7-6700k and performs extremely well in newer games and is more than enough for 1080p, and capable of 1440p in most games, and some even in 4K. Few cards at the moment are better than the 1070, such as the 1080, titan pascal, and in some situations the 980 ti.

Hello, computer noob here. I read through the preface and it said that a nvidia geforce gtx 1070 would be best to use but the actual card showing is some gigabyte card due to the parameters set. I guess my question is, if I go for the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Windforce OC Video Card will I still get the same performance in gaming, recording, streaming, and vr as compared to the nvidia?

Quick question, would this more "budget friendly" build still work just as well for streaming games? I plan on 1080p but only 30 FPS, internet can't do 60. How about recording and editing? I plan on using shadowplay if it means anything.

So uhh... Building my first pc so might be a pretty newbie question, but would my build be a stronger version of this build? Or am I not getting enough bang for my buck?
http://pcpartpicker.com/list/Lfxw7h

Hope i'm not to late with answering your question, there are some questionable parts in your build, i'll address them here.

The motherboard you're using has an onboard soundcard, so I don't see the use of picking up another one.

You have 2 coolers selected for your CPU, one being air, other one being water. Seeing that you picked a K series, which means overclockable, if you're not overclocking, go for air and downgrade to a non-K series. I would suggest if you're to overclock pick the a water cooled cooler. In that case, I suggest the pcpartpicker or pcpartpicker First one is said to be more easily installed.

Your storage options look a bit weird to me, two ssd's? I would recommend to go for one ssd (256 gb is the best option if you want to put windows and some games on there) And go for a Internal Hard drive, for more mass storage, like pictures and such. some option are pcpartpicker or pcpartpicker

Your PSU is overkill . You're build requires a PSU with at least 400W, if you overclock I recommend a bit higher, but the one you have now is too much.

Your case looks brutal, that's fine. But are you sure spending 200$ on a case? I recommend going a bit lower and spend the money on something else

Just go for a normal GPU, I don't know where Hybrid is good for, but a normal 1070 will do. And if you save money go for a 1080.

To sum it all up, your build is not bang for buck. I highly suggest if you are wanting to build a new computer, go for this build, and upgrade what you need. BIG TIP do you research on what you pick, can save you a lot of money and even troubles

I had a question about the case and that was does the gigabyte geforce 1070 actually cover other bays once it is in the case? If it does, what would be another case that could be selected where it wouldnt cause that issue?

Hi everyone ! I'm looking for a PC that allow me to play, record, stream, and also work on CAO softwares (CATIA, SolidWorks, etc...)
This built seems quite awesome, but I'm not confident with the CAO thing ? What do you think ? Do you have some adjustment, ideas ?
Thanks fellow !

yes you would need to put in your own software. You can it with a usb stick and buy it online, or get an optical drive and go to a electronic store and get a copy of whatever software you want to be running on. But make sure the optical dive can fit in the case

I'm looking at building a system based on this build solely for video editing 4k footage alone with Sony Vegas Pro, is there anything i can/should remove, upgrade or add that will help tailor this system just for editing ?

500MB SSD? I'm sure you mean 500GB haha.
For the CPU, go for a 6600K which is overclockable so you can achieve much better performance. You will need a cooler as well since it doesn't come with one. I suggest the Hyper 212 EVO if you want a cheap and reliable solution, however a good All-in-One liquid cooler would be phenomenal if you can afford one. A GTX 1060 6GB is fine. I guess as long as you're strictly doing 1080p gaming.

32GB of RAM are a lifesaver for your kind of work; if you really can't afford it, sure, go with 16GB but make sure it's fast RAM and don't process vids and game at the same time.

Hey, PC building noob here. What CPU and GPU could I upgrade to make it even more powerful, without breaking the budget too much (maybe $100-$300 more)? And what motherboard would be compatible with it? Because whenever I look for a more powerful CPU, the motherboard always ends up being incompatible. Thanks!

There is no reason to get an i7 6700 over the i7 6700k, it's only 25 dollars more, allows you to overclock, and is faster at stock speeds than the 6700. And a $63 dollar motherboard for this build? That is insane, sir.